HMY Airways gears up for November launch

Ho’s
Vancouver-based company says it has already purchased one second-hand Boeing757 from Boeing and the aircraft has been re-painted. A second 757, also from
Boeing, should be delivered in mid-October.

Longer-term,
the carrier would also like to serve Hawaii and even has its eyes on Asian
destinations.

The
company has so far employed some 68 flight attendants and 22 pilots. Former
Cathay Pacific employee James Westmacott will be the carrier’s vice president
of airport operations, while former Canadian Airlines employee Brent Statton
will be general manager.

Financial
backing is coming from Canadian businessman Ho, who hails from Hong Kong and
runs Ho Enterprises that includes a luxury car dealership in Vancouver. He will
be the carrier’s chairman and CEO.

An
HMY Airways spokeswoman says the company is hopeful of obtaining regulatory
approval from Transport Canada “very soon” and first flight is still planned for
1 November.

“There
is a void in the market now in western Canada since Canada 3000 dropped out,”
says the spokeswoman. “We’ll be focused on leisure travel with very
competitively priced service.”

She
points out that some of the initial planned routes, such as Vancouver-Mazatlan,
will be served only by HMY.

The
carrier’s two 757s will be fitted with 197 seats, of which 36 will be premium
class seats with 95cm (38in) pitch. The other seats will have 77cm (31in)
pitch.

The
company has secured space at Vancouver’s international terminal and has moved
its headquarters into offices previously occupied by Air New Zealand.